Hope as a Practice

The session is designed to give you a short but meaningful experience of the active hope process in a safe and supportive group. It will also provide guidance for developing your own, more extensive, practice of hope which you can use in your everyday life, either by yourself or with others.

We will begin with a brief exploration of the meaning of hope and identify how a deliberate practice of hope may help us to overcome feelings of helplessness in these turbulent times. Then, through a series of timed and guided activities, we will experience the four stages of the Active Hope process:

Through this process, we will work to find hope and strength in seemingly hopeless situations, and develop a vision for meaningful personal action.

The activities will be varied and provide opportunities for individual reflection, deep sharing and listening in small groups, and discussions together as a full group. There will be at least one short break and a more extended period working away from the screen during the three-hour session.

Although the Active Hope process is not specifically Quaker, it has many resonances for Friends and some of these will be highlighted in the workshop.